Heart

Description

Heart is the sophomore album by the American singer and songwriter Audrey Assad, released on Sparrow Records in February 2012, manufactured by EMI CMG Label Group and distributed in the US by EMI CMG Distribution. The album was produced by Marshall Altman. All songs written or co-written by Audrey Assad.

Two things stand out on this album – Assad’s fine voice (reminiscent of Brooke Fraser, Beth Nielsen Chapman with a touch of Jennifer Warnes), and the quality of the songwriting. Assad’s songs are full of spiritual themes, but they are more exploratory than preachy and are never sentimental. Many are about relationships – between people, and between people and God. «Sparrow» is probably the most commercial track here with its simple melody and lyrics (“Why should I be troubled when his tender word I hear”), but the best numbers are those that feature Assad’s voice and piano playing most prominently. Try for example the hauntingly melodic «O My Soul» with its simple but crucial message (“Don’t lie to yourself, O my soul – love your God”) or «Slow», which gets more deeply into the relationship with God (“I’ve heard that faith moves mountains/ I know it moves my feet/ To follow You”). One of the standout tracks is «Lament» which explores inner contradictions using the Biblical story of Mary and Martha to illustrate the point (“Why is it easy to work but hard to rest sometimes?”). On the relationships theme the best track is «Wherever You Go», a fine song co-written with Matt Maher that explores God’s search for us, especially for the lost sheep (“When your wine’s all gone and your well’s run dry/ Open your hands and look into my eyes”). The only down side I found was an overuse of drum programming. In particular it made the opening song seem rather limp. But thankfully the album recovered well. [Brendan O’Regan, Cross Rhythms, April 2012]

> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/heart/784036932)

CD tracklist:

01. Blessed Are The Ones – 3:21
02. Even The Winter – 4:43
03. The Way You Move – 3:14
04. Sparrow – 3:28
05. Breaking You – 4:56
06. O My Soul – 4:42
07. Won Me Over – 3:40
08. No Turning Back – 4:21
09. Lament – 3:18
10. Wherever You Go – 5:47
11. Slow – 3:51
12. New Song – 5:45

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[youtube_sc url=”PWjwZ_fFKMU” title=”Audrey Assad – Sparrow (Official Lyric Video)” autohide=”1″ rel=”0″]